Retired Ventnor firefighter Ernie Tarsitano, doesn't consider himself a hero.
Tarsitano, 61, of Galloway Township, only made one decision July 26. To go back.
After crawling on his hands and knees for at least 4 feet in a T-shirt, shorts and sneakers to save a man yelling for help in a burning home in Galloway, he had to to leave because the smoke knocked him out of the building. Even though Tarsitano was choking and vomiting from the smoke, he looked down at the bracelet rubber band on his right wrist that read, "What Would Jesus Do," and said to himself, "That's my sign. I've got to go back."
Tarsitano chose to crawl back into the burning home. He rescued Roderick Cormier, then 72.